The White House said that US President Joe Biden's talk about his cancer was a sign that he had the disease before he became president, and he was treated for it.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said - in a tweet via Twitter on Wednesday - that "President Biden was referring to non-melanoma skin cancers that were removed before he took office."
A summary of Biden's health, released last November, said he had had several non-melanoma localized skin cancers removed before he took office.
And on Wednesday, the US President revealed that he had cancer, while media reports indicated that his announcement was a slip of the tongue, and not an official disclosure of his disease.
This came during Biden's speech on global warming in the US state of Massachusetts.
Describing the health effects of emissions from oil refineries near his childhood home in Claymont, Delaware, Biden said, "That's why I and a lot of people I grew up with have cancer."
The US president added that this explains why the state of Delaware has the highest rates of cancer in the country.
Biden, 79, is the oldest US president, and his health is often the subject of public debate.
His defenders pointed out that he has suffered for years from slips and inaccurate statements.